Boycotting, BDS and Block the Bombs Act — all terms that, when mentioned, put everyone a little bit more on edge. Blocking U.S. aid to Israel isn’t a new discussion. In the Oct. 6 to 12 issue of Washington Jewish Week from 1983, similar criticisms of sending or not sending U.S. military aid to Israel took shape.
In this month’s “Remember When,” we are taking a look at the article entitled “Israel’s foreign aid dilemma: finance vs. defense.”
The article, written by Wolf Blitzer, started by discussing the Israeli finance minister’s desires when talking with the Reagan administration.
“Finance Minister Yoram Aridor has made clear his intention to continue discussion with the Reagan administration on a reduced overall level of U.S. military assistance to Israel provided that it is all in the form of outright grants, rather than in loans,” Blitzer wrote.
The article explains that Aridor’s approach was under criticism from the Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens. At a meeting with reporters on Sept. 28, 1983, at the Sheraton Washington Hotel, Aridor provided background information on the state of the Israeli economy to Americans.
The proposal to reduce the overall level of military assistance to Israel, unlike today, was raised due to concerns about repaying loans owed to the U.S. However, today, the talks of decreasing military aid to Israel are due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and increasing public disapproval of the Israeli government.
